Colorado Wildfires 2013

Colorado wildfire task force tackles building in burn zones

With a rainbow arcing over the Black Forest fire burn as a background, Cyrena McVey holds an American flag while greeting firefighters coming off the line after a shift. Colorado Springs residents have been turning out each night with signs and flags to cheer on crews, who have helped bring the blaze to 75 percent contained. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

A Colorado task force on Monday got down to developing unprecedented limits for building homes in burn zones after the Black Forest fire raised concerns — again — that risks and costs are becoming too great.

Fees assessed on people who choose to live in forests, mandatory disclosure of wildfire risks before home sales and tougher building codes are among measures that members of Gov. John Hickenlooper's Task Force on Wildfire Insurance and Forest Health are considering.

The destruction of 502 structures and two fatalities in Black Forest gives "a cruel illustration" of the need for a smarter approach, said Barbara Kelley, director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs, leading the 18-member group.

They include deputy state forester Joe Duda, who pointed to rapid construction of houses in forests. Colorado's 1 million or so acres of residentially developed forests is projected to increase to 2.1 million acres by 2030, Duda said.

"If we don't get our arms around this problem now, it's going to run away from us," Duda said. "Now is the time."

Hickenlooper launched the task force in January to find environmentally sensitive ways to improve forest health and limit the destruction by wildfires. Last year, Colorado faced costs topping $40 million in dealing with wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes.

Task force members, ranging from insurance industry representatives to state air and natural resources officials, are planning a field trip to talk with firefighters.

They're refining recommendations that Kelley said should be done by the end of summer, providing direction for the state and its lawmakers. These emerging recommendations would:

• Establish tougher building codes to increase the safety of homes in forests and ensure defensible space — more precisely defined — around structures.

• Create a state-run insurance program to help cover losses in designated high-risk burn zones — without burdening city residents. "Insurance is going to have to play a critical role in this process," Kelley said.

• Require assessments of wildfire risk and disclosure before home sales — based on state and county maps for structures in the burn zones.

• Allow more controlled burns in high-risk areas to improve forest health and try to make wildfires less catastrophic. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment officials have proposed to relax smoke management requirements to enable more burns — in exchange for better public notice and education efforts to minimize exposure to smoke and increased air monitoring to determine impact.

• Require homeowners in burn zones to pay fees to help offset costs of protecting their structures. In California, a fee of $150 assessed on properties in burn zones raised $90 million for dealing with wildfires.

Task force members on Monday discussed concerns that today's system essentially subsidizes living in forests.

"By making insurance affordable to all, are we actually encouraging development in high-risk areas?" Kelly Campbell, vice president of state government relations for Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said in a presentation. "The premiums don't reflect the risk."

The Black Forest fire has destroyed a mix of older homes, including homesteads that likely weren't insured, and high-value newer homes, said John Bissett, president of JM Weston Homes.

Evacuated from his own home in Black Forest, Bissett told the task force that homebuilder staffers have conducted an analysis of structures destroyed in the fire and found that more than half were built more than 13 years ago. "Neighborhoods that were fairly new survived better than neighborhoods that were older," as a result of safer modern construction, Bissett said.

Task force members plan to give Hickenlooper a status report by the end of June. The task force will then give recommendations to Hickenlooper and lawmakers interested in addressing the broad problems resulting from people building in burn zones, Kelley said.

Colorado fire updates

These are the latest conditions on wildfires around Colorado as of Monday:

• The Ward Gulch fire burned 485 acres three miles north of Rifle Gap Reservoir. The fire was first reported Friday at 11:30 a.m. and has not grown significantly since that day, according to a post on inciweb.org. The fire was 60 percent contained Monday, according to the site. The cause of the fire is believed to be lightning, officials said.

• The Big Meadows fire in Rocky Mountain National Park remained at an estimated 604 acres and was 95 percent contained, according to a post on inciweb.org

Closures continue for the Onahu Trail, the Green Mountain Trail and the lower Tonahutu Trail, according to the National Park Service website.

All major roads and facilities in Rocky Mountain National Park remain open, as are Grand Lake and Estes Park, according to the park site.

CLARIFICATION: According to Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs director Barbara Kelley, the state-run insurance program described in the story would be patterned after the National Flood Insurance Program. Colorado's Task Force on Wildfire Insurance and Forest Health is not aiming for a broad, all-encompassing insurance program, she said.

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